GREENWOOD TWP- The Isle of Pines bridge has a new owner — and it comes as a surprise to township officials here.
Greenwood Township, which recently acknowledged ownership of Birch Point Extension, has now learned it apparently owns the Isle of Pines bridge — and faces an immediate repair bill.
A late March inspection report from St. Louis County found that a bearing pad under one beam has shifted about five inches and needs to be repositioned.
“This is a slight deficiency that needs to be corrected,” board Chairman Paul Thompson said. “We need to pay for that.”
Thompson, an Isle of Pines resident, said the news caught him off guard.
“I thought St. Louis County owned the bridge,” he said.
The revelation also raises questions about a 2023 board decision. The township returned about $31,000 from its Isle of Pines bridge fund to the Isle of Pines Road Association in summer 2023, after resident Lee Peterson requested the move.
The money had originated from assessments levied against Isle of Pines residents to cover costs beyond the federally-funded bridge built in 1984 — including roadway approaches. The unspent balance had been held in a dedicated township fund for future bridge maintenance.
At the July 11, 2023, board meeting, Peterson told the board he had researched the issue and concluded that St. Louis County owned the bridge and would cover future maintenance costs. The county conducts regular inspections and has handled minor repairs, he said.
Peterson told the board that county officials informed him the county had no claim on the bridge fund money. The board approved terminating the fund, pending review by the township attorney.
While St. Louis County does provide inspection of all bridges in the county, as required by state law, paperwork on file in the town hall clearly shows that the bridge is the property of Greenwood Township, dating back to when the bridge was built.
“We know that St. Louis County put zero dollars into building that bridge,” Thompson said.
“This is kind of alarming,” said supervisor Lois Roskoski. “We had all that money, but the residents said they wanted it back.”
Thompson said he was working on reviewing all the paperwork, but then he spread out his hands out two-feet wide, indicating how much paperwork there was.
“The fact is,” said supervisor Paul Skubic, “we own the bridge.”
The repairs needed are relatively simple, supervisor Steve Bradach said, noting the county can help with the project and it should take three to four hours to complete.
Resident Dan Carnicom, an Isle of Pines resident, said he always understood the bridge belonged to St. Louis County.
“That resident got somebody to say it was the county’s bridge,” he said. “We aren’t going to get that solved tonight.”
Carnicom asked the township to approve moving forward with the repairs with the help of St. Louis County, and then have a working session to address the issue.
The motion to proceed passed unanimously.
No discussion was held on the future financial implications of the bridge ownership. The township will use money in its road and bridge fund to pay for the repairs, but those funds are also needed for work on Birch Point Extension, including pothole repair that will be done later this spring or early summer.

State flag
The board voted 3-2 against displaying the old Minnesota state flag. Resident Mike Indihar had put a motion on the floor at the annual meeting to replace the new flag with the old design. That motion passed on a voice vote, but the board is not obligated to follow motions passed at the annual meeting, except for those approving the levy.
“Townships can fly either flag or none,” said Bradach. “The question is, do we change the flag?”
Bradach noted that the flag currently on display in the town hall is the official state flag, “whether we like it or not.” He added that the state flag design has been changed at least seven times, and there was never a public vote on the changes.
“I just feel to avoid the controversy, we should at least have the official flag,” Bradach said.
Roskoski put a motion on the floor to fly the former flag.
“That’s what the residents wanted,” she said.
Supervisor Craig Gilbert said he felt the township should keep the official flag.
There was little support for flying both flags.
Roskoski and Skubic voted in favor of the old flag, and Bradach, Gilbert, and Thompson voted against.
“That is totally disgusting,” said Indihar, after the vote. “So, our annual meeting means nothing. It is not what your community asked for.”
Bradach said people could ask the Legislature to change the flag back.
“We have a lot bigger issues,” Bradach said. “Do we fly the Confederate flag if someone wants to?”

November election
The board passed a resolution to hold a vote at the March 2027 township election to move township elections to November of even-numbered years. The resolution lays out how the supervisor terms would be changed (some shortened, some lengthened) to accommodate the new election timing. The new supervisor terms would be four years in length. This move would save the township money, and hopefully boost voter turnout.
If approved, the change would go into effect for the 2028 general election.

Public water supply
The board decided to test if the current Brassmaster water filtration system can economically filter the water used just inside the town hall (kitchen and bathroom), and not filter the water on the outdoor taps or in the fire hall. The township well has high levels of arsenic, making the water unsafe to drink without treatment. Supervisor Craig Gilbert estimated this would cut down the gallons of water running through the system by 90 percent. At the current usage rates, the township needs to replace the filtration media every three to four months at a cost of $2,400, Gilbert said.
The township will bring in a plumber to make the changes, then get the filtration media changed, and do monthly testing to see how this impacts arsenic levels. The township needs to get drinkable water in the town hall before starting on the kitchen renovation project in 2027.
The township said they hope to maintain access to the outdoor faucet, but note it is labeled as non-potable and the latest arsenic level testing is also posted.
Bradach said that arsenic is being found in well water nationwide now that it is being tested for.

Other business
In other business, the board:
• Approved lifting the cap on the hours the treasurer works, which will be revisited on a monthly basis. Jill Clark said she keeps finding errors in past years, dating back to 2022, that are taking time to correct. She estimated it will take her another couple of months to get caught up, and that she was looking forward to getting the job back to the original number of hours.
• Discussed moving some of their investments back into CDs. The township did cash out all their previous CDs. The township currently has $465,638 in these accounts. Thompson estimated at least $200,000 should be kept in cash for possible matching funds for grant projects this year. The board did vote to move $105,712 from the broadband fund into a seven-month CD at Park State Bank at four-percent interest, and to move $104,819 from the general fund into a savings account that would pay one percent.
• Approved hiring an electrician to do some electrical repairs on the town hall grounds at a cost not to exceed $1,500.
• Received a letter from the federal government indicating the township may need to refund unused ARPA (pandemic) funding. Clark said she has been unable to find any paperwork on the funds the township received and spent. The township may have set some of this money aside in the broadband fund, but supervisors were not certain where that funding came from. The board will be looking into this issue.
• Approved hiring a new firefighter/EMR, which brings the department membership up to ten. The board also heard the department is hosting a nationally-certified wildland firefighting class in May that is open to all area departments. The costs will be reimbursed by state training funds.
• Approved selling off surplus fire department equipment, including a 2008 Ford F350 pickup with a plow, a Polaris 6x6 with tracks and tires, a John Deere X500 lawn mower, plus assorted pumps, hose, and other miscellaneous equipment that is no longer in use. Fire Chief Brian Trancheff will select a local auction company to handle the sales. The department hopes to use the proceeds of the sale to purchase a used truck that can be used for wildland fire fighting among other uses.
• The township will not renew a fire protection contract with St. Louis County for an unorganized township in the Mud Creek Rd. area. Trancheff noted this area takes an hour to respond to by truck and can take a long time over the water. He said both Breitung and Eagles Nest departments are closer, and it made more sense for them to have the contract, which currently sits at $13,000 a year. The department would still respond if mutual aid was requested, he said.
• Awarded the bid for the grinding and repaving of the walking trail to Mesabi Bituminous, which provided the low bid of $91,750. The township has received a $49,500 IRRR matching grant for this project.
• Heard the township is going to court over a request by two residents on Birch Point Extension to vacate the road easement. The township had been in mediation, but no agreement was reached. The issue is set for a court date of April 29-30. The township wants to reserve the easement for maintenance, snow removal, and possible road realignment in the future. The roadway does not always follow the road that was platted out, which is commonplace.
• Awarded a three-year bid for propane to Lakes Gas, at a cost of $1.499/gallon. The township owns its tank. The township also received a bid from Superior Fuel, their current supplier, at the same rate, but one supervisor objected to one of the terms of the contract, that would mean the township was responsible for paying out the contract if they decided to change suppliers during the three-year period. The vote was 4-2, with Roskoski voting against, noting the township had good service from Superior Fuel the last three years.
• Voted to get rid of the medical loan equipment being stored in the hall. They noted there is a medical loan closet in Tower at Frandsen Bank that residents can use.